Samsung never shied away from making their products obsolete by launching new versions before the dust has even settled on the previous generation. The best smartwatch from the company was introduced in Berlin. Now it's time for home audio.

There are plenty of people who invest serious cash and time into creating the optimal hi-fi sound focused on that one special chair in their house. They get lost in the anger heavenly sung by Nina Simone, but if they only move the head a bit to the right, the magic is gone. You've probably met some of them, or visited an online forum where they discuss the pros and cons of a thousand dollar piece of three foot long power cable. Hint: most of it is bollocks, but quite a few companies make fortunes on the poor souls.

Most "real" audiophiles would never be seen with audio equipment marketed by Samsung. The company is a global leader in home audio and doesn't even play in the game we just described. They focus on the everyday usable technology with just enough audio quality to follow you as you live your life around the house. And, hey, vast majority of us are listening to compressed audio anyway. No amount of equipment will make that sound supreme.

There's a market segment in home audio where Sonos has the upper hand. It's multiroom speaker systems, WiFi enabled, semi-smart, smartphone-controllable and, most importantly, profitable. Well, Samsung is after a piece of that pie.

In Berlin, the company launched their newest family of such speakers. R1, R3 and R5 are, you guessed it, small - medium - large speaker meant to be distributed throughout the house and controlled from your handheald and wearable devices. The three are a follow up, or rather an expansion of the range started by the R7. Unlike the R7, the design of which we rather like, the three new speakers are relatively boring set of tubes.

They actually look very similar to Amazon's Echo. But are nowhere near as intelligent and are only meant to be used as speakers. No microphones, no digital assistants, no umbillical cord attaching them to a virtual shop.

Their redeeming quality is Samsung's "ring-radiator" technology, which distributes the sound evenly in all directions. Again, if you're not intending to sit in a single chair while listening to music, this is far better than your normal set of stereo speakers. We haven't heard them yet, but the sound should be better than your run of the mill bluetooth portable speaker.

It better be for a set of speakers that cost between $199 and $399.

Just as a design reference, here's a photo of the R7 model. You better not mix and match that with any of the three new family members.

Following up on the Sonuz headset, the gaming face of Cooler Master, CM Storm, launched a new headset dubbed the Ceres 400. Ceres is the Roman goddess of agriculture (those lengthy Caesar sessions have finally started paying off), while 400 stands for 40mm drivers sitting inside the headset.

The company once again aimed for a lightweight and multi-purpose gaming headset for use at home and on the go. CM Storm did not strap the Ceres 400 with a removable mic like they did with the Sonuz but the Ceres 400 is some 15 to 20 euro cheaper, so it somewhat evens out. So, let’s see whether the Ceres yields quality results.

The headset is shipped in a package proudly bearing CM Storm’s colors - black and red. As you can see, it lets users see the headset and provides basic info.

The box contains only the headset, no additional accessories here.

The in-line controller is visible through the plastic window on the package. It comes with volume control and microphone On/Off key.

The headband is slightly curved and padded on the spot that rests on the head. The Ceres 400 is quite a comfortable fit, and a stable one as well. The Ceres 400 weighs in at 241g which is about 140g lighter than the CM Storm Sonuz headset.

CM Storm seems to have dumped the glowing logo thing, but we find that sort of thing to be more of a distraction than a useful feature to begin with.

The earpads are 90mm in diameter. They are filled with soft foam and are very comfortable, which is very important during longer gaming sessions. The Sonuz’s earpads feel a tad softer or cozier, but the Ceres 400’s earpads are well designed too. Although it’s winter time, we didn’t get the impression that sweating will be an issue.

The cushions are removable, in case you want to wash them. CM Storm says that the cushions are sound absorbing, but we wouldn’t count on it that much as they provided little to none outside noise isolation.

Yet another thing that CM Storm addressed from the Sonuz is the elevated central part (picture below) that tended to get uncomfortable at times.

The Ceres 400 had no such problems but the company still used double foam pads, although the ones that directly cover the driver are glued permanently.

The Ceres 400’s driver does not allow for minor motions such as the Sonuz, but the headband design is elastic enough to provide a comfortable yet stable fit. Once we took of the pads though, we noticed a few stains that looked like burnt plastic. Closer inspection revealed that there were no burns, so perhaps it was just stray paintwork.

Users can extend the headband about 3cm on each side, which should be enough for anyone. [Except our news editor. Ed]

The in-line controller is positioned in such a way that the length is neither enough to let the controller rest on your leg, nor short enough to be level with the keyboard. Finding it by feeling your way around may be a bit difficult at times, especially in the dark. The Ceres 400 controller’s shape is a bit boxy, but we’ve overdone the nitpicking, since these are not major issues. The volume knob is small but easy to rotate. The microphone can be easily switched on or off by the remote on/off switch.

The in-line remote lets you control levels but don't forget about the volume controls on your PC. Additionally, remember to turn the sound down before you take the headphones out, because music going off at full volume in the middle of the night is not something your neighbors will appreciate.

Once again, we’d really like to see clearer distinction between the connectors, and although it’s definitely not a make-or-break feature, we’ll ask you how you like it when you’re behind the computer, fumbling with jacks in a rainforest of cables, dongles and antennas. True, the CM Storm features colored rings on the actual jacks, but the colors are pale and you won’t tell them apart in dark. A single marker on the headphone jack, rubber bump or as symbol would've done the trick, even if it’s on only one jack.

The cable is some 250cm long, which is a welcome change, especially since the Sonuz’s cable measures 193cm. The cable looks well made and it splits in two at the end - one connector for the headphones and the other for the mic. Note that the cable is not the shielded type we’ve seen CM Storm use and is a bit thinner, but we doubt there’s any actual difference in action.

The headphone boasts a frequency range of 20 – 20,000 Hz, an impedance of 32 ohms, and sensitivity of 108 +/- 4dB @ 1kHz. The speaker houses a large 40mm driver and of course, we're talking about a stereo headset. Of course, analog headsets require quality soundcards to reproduce the entire spectrum but we found the sound quite good, regardless of the device we used it on. Note that the Ceres 400 was somewhat quieter than the Sirius headset, but not by too much.

Ceres 400 doesn't have surround sound support like the Sirus, which is evident during gaming. Of course, we doubt you'll lose a battle over it, but we didn't mind. The simulated surround is good, but it's difficult to tell whether the sound is coming from behind or front.

Anyone who had the chance to try out Ceres 400 was quite pleased with the sound quality, including some audio geeks. Mid and high frequencies are clear but the highs are a bit muffled when the sound is maxed out, which is pretty much what you would get on the Sonuz.

The mic is omnidirectional and it's nice that it has a dedicated connector, which means you can use it independently in other programs as well.

Unlike the Sonuz, Ceres 400 has no removable mic, which is a shame since we thought they would’ve looked more presentable than the former when without the mic.

Specs-wise, the microphone boasts a frequency response of 100 Hz – 10.000 Hz with sensitivity of -30 +/- 3dB @ 1kHz and 1V/Pa, and a signal to noise ratio of 50dB. The mic can be turned on/off via the in-line remote.

The mic is omni-directional and sound quality is good. For the best results, you will have to fiddle with it and bend it just right. By default the mic is a few centimeters to the left of your jaw.

The mic is very robust but can bend a bit in the middle, which works quite well in pictures, but in reality it has a habit of bending back, so placing it right in front of your mouth is not that easy.

In case weight is an important consideration, the Ceres 400 looks like a good choice. Although CM Storm markets the Ceres 400 as an ultra-portable gaming headset, but it is rather bulky and cannot be folded. Still, it is a lot more compact that Sonuz or Sirius handsets and it is lighter. Besides, we see much clumsier headphones being used on a daily basis. We used the Sonuz 400 on and off for about a month and we can report that we did not experience any issues with materials or build quality. It is also rather comfortable and can be used for hours on end.

The Ceres 400 is a stereo unit, audit quality is good, with ample bass and loudness for gaming and music. Unlike the Sonuz, Ceres 400 has no removable mic, which is a shame since we thought they would’ve looked more presentable than the former when without the mic. On the upside, wearing a headset with a non-removable mic doesn’t make you look like you are at the UN or on a war crimes trial. The bendy microphone housing can be adjusted, but it’s not perfect as it tends to flex back to its original position, so it needs readjustment on a regular basis. It’s a minor issue and most users shouldn’t have trouble with it.

CM Storm Ceres 400 is most affordable gaming headset in CM Storm portfolio. It’s listed at 32 euro, but it’s only available for about 40 euro. If we compare it to the more advanced and more expensive Sonuz and Sirus headsets, we will that it lacks some features. However, but the build quality, design and sound quality are still good at the Ceres 400 is a good choice if you prefer low weight over bells and whistles.

The quietly brilliant Taiwanese handset manufacturer has decided to break the quiet on a recent rumor, which claimed HTC could soon be dumping Beats Audio.

The company reacted and said it is still down with Dre & Co. It said it’s “strongly committed” to Beats Audio including their “innovation” in HTC’s devices, although some may argue against calling an EQ preset innovation.

The rumor started going around after HTC realized that bundling the overpriced headphones with its phones was not a particularly lucrative move. The company then sold most of its stake in Beats Audio and it really seemed as if it was a done deal.

To be fair, if the feature itself was any more useful than any other EQ setting, we wouldn’t mind HTC sticking with it. Seeing as how it isn’t, it can only be that HTC fears a drive by.

BAE Systems has unveiled their latest innovation which could be the fashion industry's next big thing - body wearable antenna.

To be fair, BAE has not seen the fashion implications of what it wants to do. It has flogged the idea on the basis that it will help transform the way in which soldiers communicate on the front line.

Rather than conventional radio whip-antennas which can be cumbersome and conspicuous, body wearable antenna are woven into the fibres of a soldier's uniform to enable armed forces to see through the eyes of their team mates in real time and instantly know the positions of friendly and hostile forces. However once the camera is miniaturised it would be possible to connect to anyone on the move and see a business meeting through their eyes.

At the moment, a demo has been developed to showcase the capability of this technology which transmits voice, video data (from a helmet-mounted camera) and GPS location via the same antenna.

You’ve seen the scenario countless times – music industry sounds all bells alarming people that quality new music is doomed in this anti-creative and pirate-ridden world. However, a study by economist Joel Waldfogelm shows that rise of file sharing has not had a negative impact on creation of quality new music and artists, quite the contrary, and ultimately reveals the reason for the real reason behind the industry’s inquisitions.

The study ran a comprehensive statistical analysis by crunching numbers from charts and amount of albums that exceed certain quality thresholds and ultimately concluded that pre-Napster and post-Napster periods in no way support the industry’s claims. In fact, it turns out that creative output has actually increased with the rise of file sharing whereas the quality pretty much remained the same.

Furthermore, the study yielded some interesting results that may point at just why the industry is clutching at straws. Namely, the only actual difference prior to and after Napster saga is the rise of independent labels and indie artists.

It indeed makes sense – seeing how major labels squeeze out the last bit of cash from what was once considered to be art, the big boys are in no way interested to see their profits decline. Thus, they resort to hollow arguments in order to gain “moral” justification for stripping individuals of centennial earnings before courts, acting like crusaders of creativity in the process.

We must admit, it’s pretty mind-boggling to see the music industry in its current shape propone creativity. An uninformed (or deaf?) person would think that major labels are the only thing that stands between today and a sad, creativeless and artless world. Unfortunately, one needn’t be hearing endowed to review the artists lists on these creative-crusader major labels, and the real truth of why cash has taken precedence over art lies therein.

Following in the footsteps of Mako, Razer has rolled out yet another product in its gaming audio portfolio, Ferox gaming speakers. Unlike the Mako, which was meant for desktop use, Ferox speakers are mostly aimed at gamers that want perfect sound in portable small speakers.

The Ferox system uses 30mm neodymium magnet drivers with digital amplification that provides a total output of 6W (2x3W) and since we are talking about omni-directional speakers it means that the sound can be heard all around the speakers. It features non-removable batteries for around 12 hours of worktime, has LED lights that are also a battery meter and will be bundled with a carrying bag.

Ferox can be connected via USB or a standard 3.5mm audio jack and look pretty sleek and futuristic, something that gamers are certainly looking for.

The company which sounds like sneeze, Hitachi, has added two new drive families to its cast of consumer electronic optimized hard drives for the growing digital video recorder, IPTV set-top-box, video surveillance and emerging hard drive-embedded TV markets.

The 3.5-inch CinemaStar 5K2000 family, which has 2TB and 1.5TB capacities, and the 2.5-inch CinemaStar C5K750 series which has 750GB, 640GB and 500GB models. Each claim to be low power, barely audible and reliable line of hard drives, specifically optimised and fine-tuned for the audio/video market.

Brendan Collins, vice president of Product Marketing, Hitachi said that DVR capacity constraints are becoming more acute with the ever increasing appetite for on-demand entertainment and the desire to store – and never delete – recorded TV shows and movies.

The CinemaStar 5K2000 and C5K750 families are now shipping to customers worldwide, although Hitachi have not mentioned a price yet.